I could write all day and night! Here’s a short non-fiction story that I had to write for my Creative Writing class. It’s a memory I have from my very early childhood. I must have been about four or five years old at that time. 🙂
The Morning Adventure
The floor creaked faintly as I dropped my feet down from my bed, away from the warm, fluffy and feathered cover. I froze, afraid that it could wake up someone in the house. The few seconds I waited seemed like an eternity. It didn’t appear that anyone heard the noise though. Quietly, I navigated through the darkness, out of the bedroom and into the entrance hall. The silver of the door handle shimmered in a fading blackness of the night like a lighthouse light, guiding the way. I opened the door and stepped outside. The pink frills around my short sleeves and pyjamas shorts gently swayed in the slight, cool breeze.
It was still rather dark, although the sun was about to rise at any moment. The grass was covered with a light dew and milky fog was hovering above the burned earth like a ghost, dulling my footsteps. Everywhere was absolute silence. I sneaked quietly through the courtyard trying not to wake up my dog, Andy, who was snoring peacefully in his shed. I could see his fur going up and down through the little opening. He wasn’t a pure breed, but I believed he was a half collie.
I opened the gate that separated the garden from the courtyard, and crept quietly towards the backyard. There was a sandbox on my right whose yellow sand was tempting me at the moment to abandon my escapade. Unmoved, I walked right past it, and then past the fruit trees; apples and cherries. There was a big old cherry tree with a large defining branch on which we had our swing hung, and an old car withering, as if it were a fortress decaying in the middle of a wide luscious landscape.
The back wall of the fence was just ahead of me. The fence was wooden. Tall and old, with pointed tips, which probably had the task of repelling burglars or thieves from the orchard. I began to climb it, knowing very well the danger of doing so. Carefully scaling its supporting beams, it slowly started to wobble slightly under my weight. The fear of falling to the ground overwhelmed me at the moment, freezing me in place. The very second it stopped rocking, not taking anymore chances I quickly hopped over, landing on the other side. As I looked over the defeated obstacle, I grinned. The immediate satisfaction was flowing through me, as if I had won a glorious battle against a mighty beast, with all possible odds stacked against me.
Right behind the fence there was a currant field. The tall, thick leaves of the small fruits came together to form a bushy roof. Close to the ground where the sun didn’t shine, the growth of the branches underneath was limited, allowing long, secret corridors to be formed. It turned out to be a pleasant, though accidental discovery. But soon after, I noticed the shadow of a mysterious-looking creature. It was recurring throughout my adventure, but this time, I was finally close enough to witness it in its entirety. My sudden urge to touch it overcame me. I approached the creature with caution, trying not to draw its attention as I got better views of it. It had long ears, with a fuzzy grey coat, a twitchy nose and long whiskers. It also had a round, white, funny-looking tail. It looked like it might’ve been eating something. It appeared I had gotten close enough to grab it, as I reached out my arms it finally noticed my presence. I only caught a glimpse of it before it managed to run away, filling me with disappointment. As it escaped, I hastily charged behind it, hoping to see it once again.
I must’ve taken a wrong turn, for I had lost sight of that creature, and just as the creeping fog thickened. I was forced to wander around, now with my new objective being to find my way back home. It was then, at that moment when I had found a large pond sitting in front of me.
Seeing this pond here of all places made me shudder. Its mere presence reminded me of a horrible story; about how another child fell in and drowned in its waters. I don’t exactly know nor remember the source of where I had heard of such a story, but it was the first thing that popped into my head upon seeing it. I started wondering if maybe this is where that happened? The pond looked intimidating; I couldn’t see the bottom. My view of its floor was obstructed by black, murky waters. Perhaps because this pond was actually rather deep, and the thought sent chills down my spine. But then I started to hear a strange sound. It should’ve frightened me, but the sound itself was calm and soothing. I then took notice of the much smaller animals accompanying the sounds. Their bulging eyes and swelling mouths contrasted with their triangular appearance, and they were hopping all around the pond, every few or so landing on one of the lily pads I never noticed before. As I viewed in fascination, the mysterious sound had gotten much louder than before, to the point where it seemed to be the only sound left present. The dogs that were usually barking in the dark hours on hot summer nights were suddenly silenced as the sound took over. It had come to my realization that these smaller creatures were the ones behind it. As I pondered about such a possibility, I gave in to the lovely melody the creatures were singing, for the beautiful, soothing voices were the only things relaxing me, relieving me of the misinterpreted fear I had for this area before. Though I then started to get chilled by the cold breeze of the morning, and with the fog giving away, I could then see my house in the distance. I decided to leave, but not before looking back at such an amazing sight, for I knew this would be an experience I would never forget.
As I best my encounter with the towering fence once again, I attempted to quietly sneak my way back into the house, where everyone was fast asleep, unaware of my brief disappearance. I crawled back into the large bed my mother slept in, and then I drifted off.
When the sun was set in place, I awoke to the sounds of my mother complaining.
“I don’t understand how you could stay asleep for so long!” she said. “It’s as if you were awake all night and I didn’t know about it!”
She was cooking pancakes and the delicious, mouth-watering aroma soon filled the house. It was almost hypnotizing. And I was very hungry. With a book in my hand, I climbed onto the kitchen chair. A big plate with a yellow, flat circle, generously sprinkled with white powdered sugar, was set in front of me and I grabbed the fork with one of my hands while with the other I opened the book. The pages were yellow and had many oily fingerprints on them. Some of the blotches made the paper seem to be almost transparent. From the inside of the pages of the book, Winnie-the-Pooh’s twinkly eyes stared at me with a friendly smile. He held his pot full of honey close to his big round belly, and looked jolly and happy as only he could be. He seemed not to mind the oily spots, the dirt, the wrinkled paper and the folded corners. I pressed down on the paper with my elbow, in an effort to chase away the big crease running through the middle, and examined the black and white illustration of Rabbit who looked like the mysterious creature from my morning adventure.
My mom complained about me eating and reading again as it took me forever to finish my breakfast, and I said nothing to her. My mind wondered about more important things. Long after everyone else was already done, I still sat at the table, poking through the pieces of pancakes with my fork, staring at the illustrations and reading the same thing over and over again.
After I finished eating now cold pancakes, I grabbed my book, my faithful doll Therese, and set out to garden for a new adventure. There was a grasshopper near the tool shed and I was curious to see him again.
by Eva Jaworowski